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Troopers: Oil dumped in Ketchikan farmyard likely 'fowl play'

Did someone -- a disgruntled neighbor, perhaps -- deliberately dump oil into the yard of a family in Ketchikan, Alaska? The Williams family believes it's true, and it may even have been purposeful polluting, or worse, in an attempt to kill their farm animals.

Now state authorities have stepped in to corroborate their suspicions.

Neighbors have in the past complained about the ducks and chickens kept by the Williamses on their 5,000-square-foot property in Southeast Alaska, according to the Associated Press, believing the fowl attract bears.

Not so, the Williamses say, pointing to garbage left out by neighbors and other residents as more likely to lure bears than the quacks and clucks from their yard. And the ducks are more than just poultry protein, providing comfort for their 7-year-old autistic son, who would be devastated if any harm came to them, the AP reported.

The oil dumping is under investigation by the Alaska State Troopers and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, though no charges have yet been filed. Troopers did say the dumping appeared to be a deliberate act against the family and their farm fowl. Read the full story here.